Meters to be installed on Jefferson Hill

by Aaron Reincheld
Staff Writer

Drivers looking to park at the bottom of Jefferson Hill soon will have to search their vehicles for spare change.

The city has started installing parking meters in front of Jefferson Hall, said Athens Councilwoman Carol Patterson, D-2nd Ward, chairwoman of the parking and transportation committee. While the section of Union Street is free now, drivers will have to pay beginning Spring Quarter.

The meters are needed to maintain revenue that will be lost when Ohio University begins the construction on Bentley Hall, said Wayne Key, Athens Service-Safety director. The work will force the closing of parking meters on Mulberry Street to make room for construction equipment.

"There was great discussion over who owned what streets, and could the university close down Mulberry altogether," Patterson said. "That’s what they wanted to do, and the city was saying, ‘No, you can’t do that.’"

Preliminary work for installation of about 20 metered spaces started last week, and meters could be installed as soon as next week, said Roger Bail, public service director.

But Patterson said the meters would not be installed until spring break, when students are gone.

"I know it’ll be a bit of shock to people who are used to parking there," she said.

The East Union Street location was chosen after an "exploration of alternatives," Key said.

The first alternative was for the university to pay for the lost revenue. When OU was unable to do that, many other sites were considered as possible locations for parking meters, Key said.

Placing meters on Park Place behind Alden Library was another option, Key said. However, there were concerns with putting parking on the street.

"But if you put parking on there, the concern was it becomes so narrow," he said. "I worry about a fire truck being able to respond to something at the library."

Also, the university and the city plan to renovate Park Place this summer. The city did not want to put parking meters in and take them away only a few months later, Key said.

The meters being installed on Union Street will generate $18,000 to $20,000 a year in revenue, Key said. And even though the Bentley Hall construction should end in about two years, the meters will be a permanent addition to the city.

The city collected $363,176 from parking meters in 2000, City Auditor Jimmy Stewart said.